New Inn, London 

Curator: Muirhead Bone’s pencil drawing, "New Inn, London," presents a rather captivating slice of urban life. There’s a real energy to it, wouldn’t you say? It almost feels like a freeze-frame from a bustling city scene. Editor: Absolutely. What immediately strikes me is the transient nature of it. It is difficult to get an exact date for the drawing, but considering the urban decay and construction, it feels indicative of the transformations reshaping cities and impacting social classes throughout London’s complex and ever-changing urban landscape. Curator: Precisely! Bone excels in capturing these rapid changes. The scaffolding seems to embrace the building, both supporting and obscuring it simultaneously. You have this interplay between construction and decay that raises interesting questions about the very structure and support within such communities. The work seems so precariously constructed, which of course highlights larger systemic vulnerabilities. Editor: And, of course, construction and building sites are by their nature liminal, often disruptive spaces, sites where change is forcibly imposed. Note how Bone draws our attention to the labor happening high above street level while down below it's as though everything is moving and shifting, the city ever changing. The composition guides us toward the ordinary life within these urban shifts. Curator: That focus certainly aligns with a broader turn-of-the-century trend among artists to depict the realities of everyday urban existence, rather than idealised visions. Think of the working class and marginalized peoples, so often hidden. Editor: We can also think about this "New Inn" not just as architecture but also as an active participant in shaping identities. What classes or types of people do you expect would visit here, given that the site seems abandoned? Where are their faces? And why is the artist focused on showing how structures, too, come into being? The work seems especially apt for the time, questioning how we define ourselves through place. Curator: Looking at Bone's body of work, and given that he was appointed as a war artist later in his career, it suggests a growing awareness and questioning about social structures, urban life, and the individual's place within the changing socio-political environment of early 20th-century Britain. Editor: Indeed. Considering the broader context provides a more nuanced understanding. A simple drawing, seemingly focused on bricks and mortar, resonates with profound insights. Thank you.